Resonance Of Souls
by Rittie
Summary: The memories he was seeing couldn't be real. Yet they were. He was watching his child human-self play with Yuuma, who under no normal circumstances should have been there... he gave him a choice. Side with them or against them. [Yuuma&Nasch-centric, NO romance unless people want it, Barian!Yuuma. T to be safe, possible M in the future for character death/s.]
1. The Eighth Emperor?

**Did you really think I wouldn't do something like this? Sheesh... xD**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the star or the name of Alcor. It solely belongs to whoever named it and the constellation it is in is the Ursa Major (Big Dipper), just like the rest of the Barian Emperors. This will only be used for the purposes of this fic and similiar fics to come and I claim no ownership over it whatsoever.**

 _Resonating_

The resonance ended with the spark of a dying star.

Silence reigned over the harbor as everyone's eyes were on Yuuma, all shocked and in sheer, utter disbelief. Merag, for example, could only stare at the hunched figure of someone who she always saw as somebody who would stand up to whatever was threating his friends, family, home... his life. To think that...

"Yuuma..." Kotori began as the Emperor's Key (now they all knew why it was called like that) slowly swayed to the left and then to the right and back again. The silent figure didn't speak and the lack of words began to influence everyone. Yuuma's friends (aside from Kotori, who was still staring at him with a questioning look, gazing for reassurance that she really hasn't seen any of that...) started to protest, claiming how it must have been a trick by the Barians again, to make them believe how Yuuma was their enemy or would want to do them harm... meanwhile, the transformed Emperors stood still as they simply stared, uncertain of what to do. Tsukumo Yuuma - the boy they all thought was their enemy, some of them with more effort and some with less - was one of them? In fact, he had known Nasch when they were both humans and had even befriended him?

Durbe began to try and remember where he had seen the boy before, if maybe those memories - flashbacks, illusions... whatever they were - were false after all... but he knew that wasn't the case when his king's dual-coloured eyes flashed as a memory came back to him, the pupils widening a bit.

"Alcor..?"

The name seemed to trigger Yuuma as he began to pale and feel ill. Kaito, who was among those who had stayed silent up until then, looked up, his grey eyes boring into Nasch's.

"So it is true? Yuuma is one of you - a Barian."

The older blonde's words sounded with the whisper of some sort of finality, as his friends began to protest again, clearly not wanting to accept the fact that they might now have to fight Yuuma as well (they knew they wouldn't be able to win with him against them.. no way...) yet Kotori was the only one brave enough to speak up.

"Yuuma... say something ... it's not true, is it?"

The boy finally lifted his head and the answer caused them to grit their teeth (and in the case of Kotori, cry). His eyes, usually a warm deep pink, were flashing in the same way the eyes of the other Barians would from time-to-time. The silence returned as everyone began to feel uncomfortable, Tetsuo even going as far as to step back from Yuuma. Slowly, all the other humans bar Kaito followed his example and began to run in different directions, clearly hoping to save themselves somehow. Merag watched them run, ironically, not having the heart to give chase as her eyes returned back to Yuuma... or should she call him by his real name, Alcor?

"You are ... still... our friend." Kaito said simply. "No matter what you choose to do from here on out."

"Choose? He's clearly going to be..." Durbe started but Nasch's piercing gaze stopped him. Turning to stare back at Yuuma, the king spoke.

"He is right... _Yuuma_. You have a choice. Either oppose us or join us to save our world. The choice is yours."

The child with the Emperor's key finally looked up at him and sighed.

"I chose to..."

 **And done! ... what? did you really think that I wouldn't end it with a cliffie? If people want me to, I will write more of this :))**

 **Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. The Decision! Yuuma Or Alcor?

**I honestly didn't expect this to be so popular... wow... in this chapter, we find out Yuuma's decision. Will he side with his human friends or with his best friend Nasch?**

 **Anyways, I will try not to make this too hard... :(**

 _The Decision! Yuuma or Alcor?_

Astral watched as Yuuma, slumped on his knees, watched the bright red sky outside his bedroom window.

Having decided that they should give him some time to think, the Emperors discussed between themselves and chose not to fully invade Earth just yet. He remembered as Kaito (the only one who remained, the Astral being had noticed) piggy-backed a pale Yuuma to his home... or was it really his home? From what he gathered, Tsukumo Yuuma never really existed. So he had been building a bond... a friendship... with a Barian? Did that mean that they could be friends... allies...? Frowning, Astral recalled watching Kaito drop off Yuuma into a surprised Akari's arms, biding her and Astral a goodbye (it wasn't final, he knew) after promising Yuuma's worried older sister... or what was she to him? ... that the boy was just asleep. Indeed, that was the truth. There were no visible wounds on Yuuma, at least not physical ones, he knew.

As he gazed at the boy, whose mysterious eyes didn't move from the now nearly joined suns resided in the sky, the child - was he ever a child? Was all knew about Yuuma a lie? - spoke up.

"Astral..." the blue being looked him in the eyes to show that he was listening. "... I ... I want you to know that I didn't befriend you to hurt you or anything like that... I just wanted to be your friend... I ... wanted the Astral and Barian Worlds to be friends... we don't really have to fight, we are two sides of the same coin..."

"Yuuma..."

"I know." the Emperor's Key shone bright red in the sunlight that overtook the formerly warm rays. "It's wishful thinking on my part. As long as Don Thousand exists... peace won't be obtained."

"So you heard of him?" Astral asked.

"He ... you could say that." Yuuma chuckled, clutching the pendant around his neck. "I... Astral... I don't know what to do..."

"It's clear on what you have to do." the being replied and when Yuuma looked up at him confused, he just received an emotionless look in those golden eyes. The boy's eyes widened once he realized what sort of implication his friend was ...

"What? But Astral... I ..."

"There are no buts about this... Yuuma." the blue alien floated down to sit on the couch in his room. "No matter what might be going on behind these ... imaginary... curtains, they are still your friends. Your **real** family..."

"I know... yet, Kotori and the others..."

"They felt betrayed." Astral told him. "You've been fighting the Barians for so long that the truth... surprised... them. Not in a good way, I'd imagine. On the other hand, I know you just as well as them. You are not evil ... despite your ... species. All you were trying to do was unite us all... you are still are."

"Astral..." Yuuma began but froze when his friend gave him a light hug. Still a bit stunned, he hugged back and smiled slightly. "You won't ... hate ... me for my choice, would you?"

"Of course not, Yuuma..." the blue alien smiled back. "... you will remain my friend no matter what happens. I know that you have the power within you to stop anyone from doing anything you don't like. That's just who you are..."

"Thank you, Astral." The Barian chuckled and they both froze when they saw a purple flash outside of Yuuma's bedroom window. On the rooftop, no doubt about it. "Could it be..."

"He probably decided to come ... to hear your choice..."

They both knew who 'he' was. And that their time as allies was over with ... at least for now.

"Yeah, he was always rather impatient." Yuuma teased as a hand, very much human, opened the window, a head with purple locks poking it's way inside - blue eyes narrowed in slight annoyance, more than likely having heard the light jab as his temper. "Wouldn't you agree, Nasch?"

The king huffed as he jumped inside, crossing his arms over his own pendant.

"What is your decision, Yuuma?" he asked instead, clearly not feeling up to agreeing or disagreeing with the younger's statement. The boy with the key slowly wondered if all of the king's memories had returned... oh well, they probably would once they went back anyways.

"Yes." he looked at Astral and hugged him again as tears began to trail down his eyes. "Thank you... so much. I'm sorry..."

"You have to. I cannot hate you for that."

With a chuckle, Yuuma sat up from what used to be his couch and began to walk towards a surprised (how so? Was he really that fickle?) Nasch, the king giving him a friendly hug when he got close enough. The younger Barian couldn't help but feel light comfort in these arms. Naturally, his best friend would know how hard it was for him to make a choice. He presumed that the hug was meant to be comforting and reassuring at the same time. As he smiled again despite his tears, Yuuma hugged his king back, feeling like he had when they were children - happy, content and hopeful.

That's when the three of them heard noises from downstairs and, suddenly scared, Yuuma realized that Akari was still very much awake and considering how he had arrived at the Tsukumo household, more than likely to check on him.

"Go." Astral spoke. "Just... go."

"Thank you for taking care of my friend... Astral." Nasch said, still not releasing Yuuma from his oddly protective hug. But Yuuma didn't really mind. The king had always been protective of his sister, family in general, friends and kingdom. This was nothing unusual if you knew King Nasch personally.

"You are welcome."

The sad smile on the Astralian's face was the last thing Yuuma saw before Shark (he could really keep using that as his personal nickname, he was sure Nasch wouldn't mind ... that much) opened a portal to their home. The Barian World. The last thing he heard was Akari's shriek of fright as he vanished with someone she would consider an enemy.

 _'I'm sorry... minna... I couldn't go against my first friends...'_

That last thought somehow didn't feel reassuring at all as he floated away into nothingness.

 **Okay, this was not supposed to be over 1k words... whatever, I hope you guys enjoy it! :)**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. A Game of Cat and Mouse

**Are you pumped for the next chapter? :D**

 **Don't worry, Alcor (or Yuuma if you please, but he will be called Alcor from now on ...) will live. That's all I can promise...**

 **Thanks for the reviews!**

 _A Game of Cat and Mouse_

When Alcor first arrived back in the Barian World, he hadn't expected a warm welcome.

After all, he had been their enemy of sorts until the... truth... had been revealed but no. Instead of the scorn that he had expected to get, all he got was a warm hug (oddly enough) from Merag, a bop on the head for 'making him worry' from Alit, a fist bump from Gilag, a small smile from Misael and a thight handshake and 'welcome back' from Durbe. The only one who was suspiciously absent was Vector which, Alcor noticed, nobody seemed to care about.

And that was what was eating him alive a couple of hours later, when they were all sitting around Nasch's throne in their human forms (for some odd reason), as the redheaded Barian was still not there. It wasn't that he was that worried about the guy (since they were supposendly working together now and all) but his gut was telling him that something was wrong... Alcor, after all, had been betrayed enough in his life ... times... to know the feeling and he didn't like it - one bit.

"Alcor? What's wrong?"

He blinked and stared at Merag, who had asked the question, as she played with one of the rings she and her brother still had. He didn't really understand why (he thought that they had accepted that they weren't Ryoga and Rio) but decided not to question it.

"Nothing.."

"Come on, man!" Alit, who was sitting to his left in the semi-circle all of them bar Nasch (and Vector) were making, bumped his shoulder. "You can tell us anything, you know that right?"

"Alit is right!" Gilag smiled in a friendly way. Alcor shot them both a smile and sighed. Twidling with the Emperor's Key which hid away his Baria Lapis, he gazed as they all focused on him, which surprised him. Did they really worry about him that much or were they just baby-ing him like Nasch would do from time to time? Biting his lip, he let go of the pendant.

"I'm...worried... about Vector."

His confession was met with a pregnant silence before Durbe, who pushed his glasses up his nose, spoke up.

"What do you mean? Vector can take care of himself, there is no need to worry..."

"Not that." Alcor waved that away. "I meant the fact that he isn't here - hasn't been here since I... arrived - and shouldn't he be present when we are making plans to save this world? He is one of us, after all..."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was attempting to backstab us again..." he watched Merag mutter before Nasch spoke up.

"I don't want to do it, but I trust Vector. I ... have to." the king crossed his arms, making himself more comfy on his throne, before moving on. "I'd like to believe that I would realize if he was planning anything, Alcor."

He opened his mouth to say something but decided not to, not wanting to be on his best friend's bad side. Not that it seemed possible for him, since he couldn't remember even one moment when Nasch had been angry at him. For him? Yes. With him? Yes. At him? No... if anything, the king would always treat him like the little brother he never had - and with that, came the overprotectiveness too. But even so, he knew that speaking against Nasch wouldn't do anyone, even him, any good.

"Alright..." Durbe broke the awkward silence. "Let us continue. This is my plan. Merag, you will be going after..."

Alcor tuned them out then, wondering why the king's words didn't shake his worry at all. What if Vector was planning something? What if doom was brewing behind their backs and they just weren't aware of it? Until it was too late?

"Alcor." he shook his head when the silvernette adressed him and smiled sheepishly at the light worry on the knight's face. "Presuming that you didn't hear what I said. Misael is planning to head to the moon for his duel against Kaito. We decided it wouldn't be safe for him to go alone, so would you like to go with him?"

He turned to look at Misael, watching the blonde grit his teeth. The youngest Barian knew that he wanted to settle things on his own but also knew that Durbe was asking him to go with their Dragon Tamer so that he wouldn't overdo anything. He nodded at the knight, agreeing to his offer.

"Alright... now then, that leaves the Arclight family..."

The boy began to fiddle with his key, tuning out the plan again since he doubted any of the other bits included him. Sighing, he wondered what to do. His worry that Vector might be planning something was eating him up but, thankfully, he knew he had time to figure that out since he soon realized that his only assigment was to go with Misael when he plans to duel Kaito. Why was that? Did Nasch think that he wasn't ready to duel his ... friends... yet? He would be right there... Alcor could barely face himself now, much less any of his friends... he couldn't duel against Astral yet, not when the alien literally let him slip from his fingers...

"Hey." a tanned hand was waved in front of his face and he dully realized that he was the center of attention again. "We were wondering what you will do now since you got no assignments until later..."

"I will try to find Vector. I just can't shake of my gut feeling..." Alcor said slowly, causing the others to tense. He watched as Nasch sighed and thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, you can go ... wherever you think he is. But you won't be going alone..." the king's blue eyes swept over the group. "... Merag? Would you go with him?"

"Of course." the only female in their group stood up, brushing off the dirt from her skirt as she did. He got up as well as the others wished them good luck and to be safe. The duo walked away from the group for a bit before taking into the air, flying towards were Merag thought Vector could be.

"Don't worry..." Alcor looked at her to see her smiling at him. "We will find out what's wrong with Vector... Ry-Nasch... trusts your gut feeling..."

He grinned at her sadly, realizing that she still hasn't fully let go of Kamishiro Rio.

He didn't think either of them had given up on that quite yet.

 **\- line break -**

"I think he's there..." Merag pointed out after they flew for some time.

The throne room (of sorts) and the others were long gone behind them as they happened upon what looked like a ruined castle. Frowning, Alcor nodded, wondering why the redhead would be there of all places. His gut feeling made him feel ill for a moment, so he landed behind a huge boulder, sensing Merag landing behind him as she reached out for his shoulder.

"Are you alright? You look too pale Yuu-Alcor..."

Alcor shook of her worry and chuckled. "You can call me Yuuma if you want to. I know you are used to it." he watched as she frowned and flushed slightly, more than likely in annoyance that she had another slip of tongue.

"But that's not your real name... that's not ... you..."

"Yeah." he agreed. "But I spent thirteen years as Tsukumo Yuuma. He, despite not having lived for more than a couple of hours from what I recall, grew to be a part of me. A part that I'm not ashamed of. Just like Kamishiro Rio is a part of you, and Kamishiro Ryoga ... or Shark ... is a part of Nasch, too."

"You think so?" The hope in her eyes - a shade darker than his own - made him wonder if her giving up on her humanity (so to speak) was more for her brother's sake rather than wanting to. He opened his mouth to say something but kept quiet, hearing sounds beyond the boulder. He noticed that Merag beside him went silent too as they listened to what they knew was Vector.

"Don't worry." they peaked over the rock as they listened to the redhead speak. "They trust me like that the fools they are." he laughed maniacally. Alcor narrowed his eyes, upset that his gut wasn't lying after all (he wanted to believe the former mad prince, both as a human and as a Barian) but this didn't sound friendly for them... at all. Beside him, Merag wondered who he was talking to... when...

' _Good.'_ an ancient voice, so old yet so evil, replied causing both of them to freeze. ' _Soon enough, everything will be destroyed... everything!'_ the figured let out that horrible sound as well as the princess gasped... quite loudly. Alcor could only watch in stunned silence as a pair of violet and red eyes slowly focused on them. The feral grin that formed on Vector's face...

"Oh, look! Some guests arrived for our game!"

Merag's scream of pain was the last thing Alcor heard before losing concious to those red eyes...

 **Oh my! 1.6k words? I'm on a roll O.o**

 **Anyways, leave your guesses as to what happened to the duo. Will they be saved or will they be the first victims to Vector and Don Thousand? Find out next time!**

 **Thanks for reading! :)**


	4. Sandcastles of Time

**SO SORRY guys! This was supposed to be up today (or it will be 'yesterday' as I most likely won't upload it until tomorrow) but fanfiction decided to hate on me... yeah...**

 **Anyways, this particular chapter will be in Nasch's POV so if you don't like that for some reason, you can skip this one :)**

 _Sandcastles of Time_

As he flew above what remained of the Barian World with the others closely following him, Nasch thought.

Thought about his sister (oh poor ... poor ... Merag), about Alcor (one of his best friends) and about Vector (whom he now remembered as actually being sane once upon a time...). He bit his lip as he heard Durbe comment how they were getting close to the place the redhead had chosen for himself, figuring that the duo would most likely be there. Nasch didn't want to think about what they would find if anything happened... he shook his head as memories assaulted his head.

 _'Hello, I'm Alcor." a boy clearly younger than him reached out with his hand. Nasch looked at him and then up at his father, confused, before doing so as their fathers were too busy discussing inter-kingdom plans._

 _"I'm Nasch.' he replied. "It is nice to meet you.'_

Why was he remembering the day he met Alcor? Was that some sort of sign that something bad had happened to him and Merag? His blue eyes widened in terror. Terror that was visible to the others.

"Nasch. They will be fine. We will save them if need be."

Durbe's voice would usually reassure him but as another memory arrived, it did anything but.

' _My father is here on business again.' the young prince of the foreign country spoke. 'He wanted me to spend some time with you. Is that alright?' the older prince looked up from the sand he was staring at and nodded as Alcor joined his side. 'I'm sorry for your loss...' he continued. 'Would you like to build a sandcastle? That always makes me feel better...'_

 _'Alright...' the future king stated, moving to help the younger boy with the base of their castle._

"Nasch." Alit's voice tore him from his memories. "We are here..."

He focused more as he watched Durbe, Misael and Gilag fly down to check on the situation. When he and Alit joined them, what met them could only be described as carnage. He seemed to lose his footing as he stared at his knight, who was holding the fragile body of Alcor, who was seemingly unconcious. Oh god, let him be just unconcious!

"There are no signs of Merag..."

Misael's words barely registered for a moment and, when they did, he fell onto his knees, ignoring Durbe's worried shout. Alcor was severely injuried, his sister was missing and there was ... so much... blood.

"Nasch..." Alit crouched down beside him. He didn't answer. He couldn't.

Why did it keep happening? Why to him? What had he done to Vector in his past life that would warrant such a horrible fate?

He slammed his fists into the ground, a yell of pure anguish tearing itself from his vocal cords.

 **\- line break -**

"That's it... Nasch." Vector watched from not-so far away, but still very much hidden, the silent princess in his arms. "... suffer. Like I had suffered so long ago." he remembered all too well. The sounds of his mother's screams as he took away his father's life and then her own. Something flashed in his purple eyes and he clutched his head when a strange memory made a break for his mind.

' _Don't!' his mother screamed as she stood in front of him. Why was she standing there, ready to die? With a little time to think, the king realized with horror in his eyes that she was in fact **shielding** him, not giving herself up to be killed. He woke up when the axe - not swung by him, what!? - slammed down into it's target..._

Behind him, sinister eyes glistened in mirth. His little puppet had no idea. Not even an inkling of the real truth. And he would keep it that way as he doubted that the memories would return so easily. All was going according to the plan.

Soon... very soon...

 **Whatever is going on with Vector is actually canon - shocker, isn't it? If you watched the original, you should know what I'm implying...**

 **Thank you for reading! :)**


	5. Making You Stronger (1)

**Since I didnt get 30 reviews (altogether, not new ones xD) for the last chapter, this one will sadly be in parts :(**

 _Making You Stronger (1)_

"Alcor... oi, wake up."

The Barian groaned as he opened his eyes to see an empty room that looked like a dungeon cell. When he looked at his right, he saw Merag, chained up and in human form for whatever reason. It didnt take him long to figure out that it was the same for him.

"What happened?" he asked. "The last thing I remember was you screaming..."

"That would be because Vector hit you in the back of your head." she explained. "Same here too..." she winced as the headache returned. "... I've been trying to wake you up for a couple of hours now. It seems we are in his castle or wherever this is now..."

"But why would he keep us prisoner instead of killing us?" Alcor questioned.

"I could answer that." a tired voice spoke, causing them to freeze. Both of them looked ahead, to the other side of the cell, and saw a bound Astral. The being was glowing a faint blue, meaning that he would be out of energy (and life) soon. "I believe he wants to use us - or more like, you two - as bait for the other Emperors."

"Astral..." Alcor began, worried, but Merag cut across him.

"Bait? What is he planning?" she frowned, looking to her left where the bars were. It was silent and considerably cold and, seemingly aside from them, no other signs of life. Or death. Merag wasn't sure if that made her feel any better. "If Nasch comes here..."

"It could be Vector's attempt to kill him for a third time." Astral finished.

Alcor bit his lower lip and wondered if there was a way to contract Nasch and tell him to not come, to save his life, without Vector being alerted about it but, knowing his luck, it wasn't likely. "Did Vector pay us a visit while I was unconcious?"

"Yes." Merag said. "I attempted to reason with him but for whatever reason he seems to really want us all dead. I believe it's **his** influence though."

"You think so?" Astral questioned.

"It would make sense." the former princess said. "My memory is hazy but I remember times when he wasn't insane and blood-thirsty. I think we even used to be engaged - broken off after he went berserk, of course."

"Well, that's all fine and dandy." Alcor said. "But we need to get out of here."

"Sure." she said sarcastically. "As soon as we get these chains that are keeping us from using our powers off." she huffed and rattled them, clearly proving her point when they barely moved with her arms.

"No need to be sarcastic." he answered, rolling his eyes. "There must be a way... Astral?"

"Hm?" the blue alien hummed, his golden eyes looking up from his chains that he had been inspecting. "What is it ... Alcor?"

"Call me Yuma." the Barian chuckled. "Do you think we can still archieve ZEXAL? It doesn't really us any of my Barian powers but ..."

"... it's possible." he replied as a silent Merag watched on. "We could try. I'm not certain that it will work..."

"... as long as a chance exists, we will try." Alcor said, full of confidence as both he and Astral closed their eyes and began to concentrate. The Empress watched them and hoped that they would manage to do it. It was their only chance after all.

"Merag! Alcor!"

Alcor twitched as her eyes widened. It couldn't be...

 **Hope you liked it :)**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	6. Making You Stronger (2)

**So, anyone hyped still? XD**

 **Anyways, a lot of you guys were happy about how I re-introduced Astral back into the story and I'm glad. After all, I never really made him hate Yuma, have I? Its surprising that no one wonders what happened to Yuma's other friends but I guess... oh well, enjoy!**

 **WARNING: character death in this chapter... or am I just teasing you? :)**

 _Making You Stronger (2)_

Nasch and the remaining Emperors stormed Vector's castle that night.

Or whatever night was in the Barian World - the purplehead still couldn't quite tell - but it sounded better to him than saying that they stormed him by day or by afternoon. He wasn't sure why he cared as he looked around the dark, gloomy place (so much like Vector, indeed) when he should be looking for his sister and Alcor, who had to be somewhere here since Durbe somehow figured that they were both still very much alive and that they hadn't left the Barian World. The only logical conclusion that remained was that they were here.

His hand formed into a fist as the others walked into the different rooms to look around. Nasch still very much remembered Alcor's bloodied body (what he later on learned was just a clone of Vector's) that the lunatic had left him. This time, he would kill him. He had attempted to put up with his and Merag's murderer mainly because he wanted them (the Emperors) to feel united - which they should have been. But as he listened to Alcor's clone mutter something about 'red eyes' before vanishing into nothing but particles of dirt, he had realized that they never were.

And what was worse, the redhead's taunting voice had sounded seconds after the vanishing act of the clone, announcing to him that there were two more traitors in his midst. Nasch's eyes slowly looked over Durbe, Misael, Alit and Gilag's forms as they walked up to him, claiming that they couldn't find heads or tails of the two captured Barians. Who was the traitor? He knew he could trust his knight, so that ruled him out, Misael seemed to trust Durbe's decisions as well as his now, so that left him out too... but why would Alit and Gilag - the remaining two - betray him?

"Nasch, are you alright?" Durbe questioned. The leader only nodded as Misael spoke.

"We should check out the dungeons - Vector is bound to have them - if they aren't anywhere else, they will be most likely down there."

He watched as Durbe nodded at the blonde's words and the five of them began walking through the silent hell - as he had dubbed it by now - leaving any chit-chat barely next-to-non-existant as they knew that they were walking into a trap.

 **\- line break -**

Once they reached the dungeons - which looked eerily similiar to the part of Vector's ruins where Astral had duelled Black Mist, with Alcor's life at stake - Nasch looked around, realizing that they were empty.

"Strange." Misael said. "I thought they would be here..."

"Why." a mocking voice sounded. "Welcome!"

The five of them froze as the redhead appeared in front of them, right in the middle of the death ring, grinning widely and like the maniac he was. The king growled at his appearence and pointed his finger at him as he began to walk.

"Where are Alcor and Merag, you bastard!?"

"Now, now, Naschie-poo." Vector waggled his finger at him like he was some sort of a brat who just broke the rules or something along those lines. "What makes you believe that they are still alive at all?"

"I would have felt them die." the purplehead bit out, his eyes flashing the dual-color of his Barian form. "Now tell me where they are or else..."

"Or else what?" the clown continued to mock. "You will kill me? Because we both know how well that went last time..." he stopped for dramatic effect. "... Naschie-poo..."

"Why you little...!" Nasch began but stopped when he heard Durbe's alarmed yell. Turning his back to the mad Barian - which was not really his smartest idea ever - to see what had caused the usually calm silverhead to exclaim like that, he was stunned to see Alit racing at him with a sword (where did he find the thing, in the first place?) and an insane, controlled look in his eyes. "Alit...!"

"This is what happens when you aren't careful!" the mad king jeered behind him. Being too stunned to react, Nasch could only watch as Alit brough the sword down onto his head, ignoring the screams of horror coming from Durbe and Misael, who were being held down by Gilag when...

"ANI!"

Surprised, the former king looked up just as Alit was about to behead him (he felt the irony, alright...) to see his sister somehow being held by ... Astral ... of all people - ehm, aliens - and his mind then went right to Yuma - no, Alcor, dammit! like it mattered now - as wondered where his friend was. The sickening sound of a sword meeting soft flesh answered his question.

As Vector laughed like a madman, Nasch could only turn back around slowly in horror, as he watched Alcor's body soaked in blood fall into his arms in what felt like slow motion. As Durbe and Misael freed themselves, Misael making sure to keep Gilag somewhat restained, while his knight rushed over to him with a worried look in his eyes, all the purplehead could do was cradle his friend's body and scream.

"YUMA!"

 **Now is he dead or isn't he dead? That is the question! Which will more than likely be answered next time, so stay tuned!**

 **Question of the chapter: why did Nasch call Alcor by his 'human' name?**

 **Thanks for reading :)**


	7. Miracle

**Now with "Our Little Brother" completed, we will be going back to ROS! Anyone hyped?  
**

 **Mind you, we are getting close to the finale of this one too... :/**

 _Miracle_

Silence regained over the room.

Everyone's eyes were on Nasch, who was clutching on a dying Alcor's body. The leader himself, meanwhile, was actually crying as he shook the other gently, demanding for him to wake up, to stop joking with him in such a cruel way. When Yuma didn't reply at all - not even by breathing loudly - Nasch slowly laid him onto the cold, marble floor. He slowly got onto his feet and faced Vector, who was snickering sardonically as Merag and Astral crowded around Alcor, trying to check for any signs of life.

"I will whipe that grin off your face."

The grin just grew bigger as the other began to mock him.

"Oh really, Naschie-poo, when you couldn't even save Yuma-kun? That's rich!" he laughed then as his form began to glow purple. "I think it's time I finished you off, too..."

And so, once again Nasch's reflexes were out of it due to the grief and shock of losing Yuma, that he couldn't dodge. Merag's scream of horror jolted him from his mind as he started to feel a piercing pain in his left side. He looked down in surprise before crumbling down onto his knees in front of Vector, who just continued to laugh as he raised his blood-covered sword to strike down at the fallen leader. The former princess/priestess shouted something that wasn't tangible to Nasch's ears as she jumped Vector, attempting to fight off the sword from him.

"Why is she doing this?" Durbe rushed forward, trying to prevent another tragedy. "She never had any official swordsman training!"

That shook Nasch back out of his stupor. He lost Alcor (right?), he couldn't lose his little sister. Not again. Weakly, he got onto his feet and with shaky legs, guggled on forward to join the former knight in trying to help Merag wrestle the sword out of the maniac's hand. But Vector easily overpowered the twins (one of which had no training, like implied before, while the other was heavily injured) yet he did have some difficulties with Durbe, who wasn't so keen on giving up the battle quite yet. Nasch felt his little sister fall onto her knees beside him.

"Brother! Are you alright!?" she looked seriously worried and gasped. Looking up (when exactly did he look down again?), he saw why. Vector had managed to win their small squirmish and was now threatening to cut off Durbe's head with his weapon swinging down onto the resolved knight.

"DURBE!" Nasch yelled. No, he couldn't lose his other best friend too. With more force than needed - which disgusted him - he got onto his feet again and rushed towards them as fast as he could. At the same time, Alcor's pendant began to glow in a dark pink colour, causing Astral to blink as his whole body suddenly glowed in the same manner. "What...?" the blue spirit wondered as the boy's body vanished, a trail of that same energy shooting towards Nasch. The alien's eyes widened. "Could it be...?"

Nobody could really answer him at this point but as the light collided with the leader of the Barians, they didn't have to. As the answer was clear as day. In place of Nasch stood an imposing figure - dark purple and pink in colour, with wild hair and dual-coloured pink and blue eyes. It was ...

"CHAOS ZEXAL!" the new form spoke with the two voices blending together in perfect harmony.

... their last miracle.

 **So yes, last time, Alcor almost died and this time it was nearly the twins and Durbe! Misael is keeping Alit and Gilag at bay, for anyone wondering, which is why he didn't speak much here... and Astral was too surprised to do so.**

 **On the other hand, Nasch and Alcor's new form does not have a name yet. If you have any good ones, please leave them in your review or PM me directly, and I will pick the one I like the most!**

 **Thank you for reading and stay tuned! :)**


	8. A Shred of Light

**To be perfectly honest, I'm not quite sure on what will happen in this chapter so I decided that, while Chaos Zexal (which appearently the majority of you likes?) deals with Vector and Don Thousand, why not show Mizael and how he is doing? Yes, Yuuma and Nasch are the main characters in this but I would like to show off other characters too if I can... oh well, you can skip this chapter if you hate Mizael or something... this is merely what most people would call 'filler' anyways... well, filler which sort-of explains what was going on the Emperor's side of things way back in chapter 1! So if you are interested, well if you are not, you can skip this one like I said...**

 **... otherwise, enjoy! The show must go on!**

 _A Shred of Light_

Mizael heard his king's yell. He understood why, too.

Grinding his teeth, the blonde kept trying to keep a possessed Alito and Girag away from the others. Sighing when he managed to lock them into one of the free cells around, he leaned against the opposite wall and watched them yell and demand to be freed.

"Sorry, not until you come to your senses!" the former Dragon Tamer roared at them, causing them to shut up. For now.

He listened again (along with Merag, he had the best hearing out of all the Emperors) but heard nothing. That worried him because if Alcor died... Mizael didn't want to imagine what Nasch would do in such a situation. Much like with Durbe, the youngest out of their group was the king's precious friend, who 'got involved with him' despite all the death threats and keep away from me motions the older had done to keep him safe. The blonde remembered all too well the first night (not that you could tell) of Nasch and Merag's return to their side, how the king had sat on his throne with his head buried in his hands, clearly thinking on what to do. He also remembered the surprised and shocked yet hopeful expression he had when Tsukumo Yuuma turned out to be a Barian, just like him. Them. Mizael understood why that was too... the king had the potential to not go against one of his best friends but he had given him a choice. Well, according to Durbe, Nasch had always been soft and caring with Alcor.

"That's true, he barely allowed him to become a knight with Durbe." Mizael chuckled to himself. "Don't worry, you will save him. I'm sure of it."

Because Alcor... no, Yuuma... no, both ... was Nasch's shred of light. The light keeping him sane and intact for all sense and purposes.

 **\- line break -**

After what felt like hours, the blonde heard surprised gasps and yells from the other room. They confused him but he decided to stay where he was. Someone had to keep an eye on Alito and Gilag and he trusted them. Nasch, Merag, Durbe, Alcor and even Astral somewhat. Trusted to make Vector see reason once more and defeat whatever was having it's hold on him.

Mizael didn't notice pitch black tentacles slowly slithering towards him from behind.

 **Just to tease you a bit ;)**

 **Thank you for reading! ^^**


	9. The New Frontiers

**Another short chapter... another Mizael chapter... I'm starting to think that I'm truly evil and that I enjoy 'torturing' my readers! But no matter, the plot must go on... eh xD**

 _The New Frontiers_

Mizael could feel the tentacles wrap themselves around his torso, but he didn't dare utter a sound.

The thing that was holding him - one of the Numbers which had been trouble for Alcor, wasn't it? - had him for all sense and purposes cornered... and slammed against a wall as it cackled evilly into his ear before pulling away.

"You feel the same despair I felt...!"

The blonde the punishment for not listening by now but he risked it all the same. If it could give the others time to deal with Vector... he would do it again, gladly. Even if it meant being subjected to taunting, words spat out to pierce his fragile heart.

' _Durbe doesn't need you anymore... Nasch is back... you aren't his friend anymore...'_

He knew those were all lies. Because even after the trio's return, Durbe had behaved normally. He had simply gone back to bantering with Alcor, swords fighting with Nasch and book discussions with Merag but, aside from those trivial, everyday things, everything was the same. The bond - the friendship - they all shared remained the same. Mizael would not let some delusional Numbers destroy that!

"I will not lose to you!"

The words, coupled with his spit, in the Numbers face caused it to recoil in anger, hitting him hard with one of his tentacles as he began to hiss about how 'lowly humans should not be touching his skin with their disgusting fluids'. Taken aback, Mizael realized how happy he was that Alcor had gotten him out of that way of thinking... humans weren't as horrible as the blonde had thought (after some time, Alcor's greenhaired friend Kotori had become friendly with them, Alito persuing her again with Alcor's blessings but currently still in the friendzone...). While he was thinking, the Numbers roared and moved to hit him again.

"How dare you...!"

"I would stop if I were you, Numbers 96." a cold voice said. Mizael looked up with blood-covered, blurry eyes at a sky blue form floating in the air. _Astral... but ... how...?_

 **\- line break -**

Meanwhile in another part of the castle, Alito and Gilag had managed to escape.

They were all alone thanks to Black Mist having dragged Mizael away and, as they advanced back to the trashed throne room, the possessed look in their eyes only grow stronger. But they had to stop, for an unexpected figure stood in their way.

"I will stop you here!"

 **I love cliffies when I do them! Will Astral save Mizael from Black Mist? Why is he even there when he is supposed to be with Chaos Zexal and the others? Who is the person who stopped Alito and Gilag?**

 **You can guess or you can keep reading! The fun has just started! :)**


	10. Where There Is A Will, There Is A Way

**So I decided to put this situation into a chapter rather then two... anyways, whoever ends up being the 55th review will get a drabble or one-shot dedicated to a couple of their choice! Also, with the next chapter, we are going back to Chaos Zexal! We are also slowly approaching the end of this fic! And I'm so sad about that :(**

 **Let the games begin!**

 _Where There Is A Will, There Is A Way_

Mizael watched from his spot on the floor as Astral and Black Mist glared at each other.

The darker counterpart snorted after a while before vanishing with a sinister laugh. As Astral floated over to him, the blonde got onto his feet and sighed, rubbing his head from where he had hit the wall Black Mist slammed him against.

"Astral, was it?"

The blue Astralian just looked at him causing Mizael to bite his lower lip.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised that you would let yourself be handled like that by Black Mist..."

"I will have you know that he caught me by surprise!"

"Right..."

The blonde huffed and looked away. He then gazed in the direction Black Mist vanished off to.

"You are going after him?"

"Yes, and you can either go with me or continue being a smartass on your own!" with that, Mizael began to track the wayward Numbers, muttering under his breath about 'stupid Black Mist' and 'stupid Astralians' as he did.

"Observation Number 505: Barians do not like it if you are honest with them."

 **\- line break -**

"Let me go!"

Alito sighed as Kotori protested from Gilag's hold. As they reached another room in Vector's ever-growing castle (did he do something to it? Alito could have sworn that the hallway had gone right instead of left last time he passed through it...), the larger male threw the girl onto the other side of what looked like a giant ring. That sparked the brunette's interest but his friend spoke up first.

"You were planning to stop us how exactly?"

They watched as the girl struggled to get back onto her feet (being carried that roughly by Gilag does that to you) but she did so anyways, glaring at them as though they were her worst enemies. At this moment, they were, weren't they?

"I thought you weren't friends with Alcor anymore." Alito questioned.

His inquiry made her flinch but, surprisingly, she stood her ground.

"At first... yes... but then I realized, Yuma would always be Yuma, no matter what his name or past makes him be! Yuma is my friend and I will help him no matter what happens to me!"

"How brave..." Gilag cracked his knuckles. Alito had to look away as he advanced on Kotori.

The screams started soon but he couldn't look. Not now, not ever.

 **\- line break -**

"Where is that stupid thing?"

Astral looked at Mizael (who was walking behind him now) as he complained about Black Mist's eerie absence. It bugged him, too, but it usually meant yet another plan that he could easily foil ... right?

"Don't you have some way to detect or locate him?"

"If I did." the Astralian began. "I would have found all the Numbers in a much easier way..."

"I guess..." the blonde frowned as he thought hard. The area they were now in was a long, dungeon-like hallway, which seemed to have no end. And, knowing Vector, it probably didn't. "But, really, where could he be!?"

Just as he finished speaking, Black Mist's laugh sounded over the cold tiles, amplified and that much more evil as iron bars blocked their path. They had nowhere to run to in case something happened.

"I believe that humans have a saying for this..." Astral said smoothly.

 **Or not... yep, I love teasing you guys that much... enjoy? XD**

 **So yes, no one really guessed (*sad face*) but it's Kotori... Kaito might show up though, who knows! Find out next time what happened to Kotori and the duo as well as how Astral and Mizael (the unlikely pair) deal with Black Mist.**

 **Thank you for reading! :)**


	11. The Final Draw

**We are back! ... sadly, we never reached my goal of 55 reviews *pout* ... it doesn't matter. This is likely the last episode and it might be a bit on the sad/mushy side, just a small warning :)**

 _The Final Draw_

As Astral and Misael were busily dealing with Black Mist and as Alit and Gilag dealt with Kotori, Chaos Zexal stood facing Vector and Don Thousand in a pretty intense duel. The remaining people around them stood there, watching the duel that would decide the fate of all the worlds and their own futures.

"You are fighting in vain..." Don Thousand purred as he draw his card, making one of Chaos Zexal's cards change it's properties. "... this universe is already in my grasp!" he laughed. The fused form of Alcor and Nasch just looked at him with a dark glare before they draw during their next turn, summoning Big Jaws before using Double Summon to summon Gagaga Magician too.

"We overlay Gagaga Magician and Gogogo Golem!" they spoke. "XYZ summon! Come now, Numbers 39: The Emperor of Hope!" as the light warrior appeared, they continued to chant. "We overlay our Big Jaws and two other Water monsters! XYZ summon, Bite through your opponents, Numbers 32: The Great Water Dragon, Shark Drake!"

The two Numbers stood side-by-side as Don Thousand just smirked.

"How futile..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Astral and Misael were locked in a Battle Royale-style duel with Black Mist. The unlikely duo was actually doing decently, having gotten rid of the others Numbers already due to their combined skills. The dark version of Astral hissed as he stared at his hand, hoping to find another strategy to win this duel as Astral spoke up.

"Give it up, Black Mist! You cannot win against us!"

The dark Numbers glared as he looked at CNumbers 107 as well as some strange Numbers that he had barely heard anything about that Astral was using. He didn't want to show the other satisfaction, but he was right. He didn't have much to go with once his own Numbers was destroyed so he just played a monster in defence position and ended his turn without doing anything else.

"This is too easy..." Misael muttered, suspicious, as he shot Astral a look. The blue being just shrugged as the blonde made his turn.

* * *

"I can't believe you guys are back to your senses."

Alit looked up from the spot he was looking at to Kotori, who was walking between him and Gilag. The buffier Barian had come to his senses before he could have hurt the girl, ending up with hitting the wall beside her head which was what had caused the terrible scream that now could never be erased from the seemingly younger Barian's mind. "Yes." he spoke. "I wonder how we did that..."

"Do you think that Alcor and Nasch defeated Vector so his hold on us vanished with his loss?"

The other two looked at him in surprise.

"What?"

"Nothing." Alit said after a moment of silence. "I'm just not used to you sounding so... rational."

Gilag's fits of protest were lost in Kotori's giggles as they continued to walk back to the room in which they left the other Barians.

* * *

"Nasch-sama, Alcor..." Durbe looked worried.

He had a right to be. The situation didn't look great for the still fused duo, both of the Numbers they had summoned were destroyed and Don Thousand just gloated as he towered over them with his Irrational Numbers. Which only made the Alcor part of Chaos Zexal wonder if Negative Numbers existed as well... but he snapped back to attention when they saw Vector's broken form squirm on the floor next to them. After Don Thousand appeared, he didn't need the redhead anymore and ended up hurting him (but not killing him) before throwing him at the other's feet. That had enraged the Alcor part of Chaos Zexal, thus ending up in the duel which they were currently losing.

"Any other famous last words?" the self-proclaimed god continued to laugh.

"Yes." Chaos Zexal stated. "You are going down!"

"Don't make me laugh..." Don Thousand's words were cut off as the doors opened, Alit, Gilag, Kotori, Astral, Misael and Black Mist all appearing, somewhat rough-looking but otherwise well and alive. "What is the meaning of this!?"

"You can do it!" Kotori cheered on Chaos Zexal instead of answering the chaotic god. "We are all fighting with you!"

Her cries of encouragement were soon joined with similiar ones by everyone (including Durbe, Merag and Black Mist) as Misael hurried over to Vector's fallen form, shaking him to see if he was awake. "Come on, idiot, wake up."

"W-why are yo-you...?" the redhead tried to say as his vision swam grey and blonde. But it was enough to tell him that it was Misael. So why didn't he finish him off now?

"Saving your butt, of course." the dragon tamer rolled his eyes as he helped Vector up. "You can protest as long as you want, you are still one of us. And you always will be."

"M-Misael..." the wounded Barian looked shocked as he was taken to Merag, the only one with some healing skills present. She began to heal him after shushing him before he could say anything. "Just shut up and let me heal you!"

Don Thousand watched all of this in remote disbelief. How could they treat his minion like that after everything that happened?

"That's the power of bonds." Chaos Zexal felt the need to answer his unspoken question as he turned to stare at him. "The very thing that will defeat you now!" as it was his turn, he moved to draw his last card, thus determinating who won this duel.

" _Shining Chaos Draw!_ "

* * *

Several months after Don Thousand's defeat and him being resealed by Yuma, times were peaceful. So calm and almost serene that, when Rio suggested for them to do a concert for the pure sake of fun, everyone had agreed.

In the Kamishiro mansion, Kotori was smiling to herself as she watched Alit and Gilag argue about who would be the second guitarist (the first one was Shark and that went without saying anything, Rio had taken the electric piano to herself) and as she wondered about how to play the bass, which they left to her, Yuma and Durbe. It wasn't that hard to find the time to practice with it being the weekend and all the Barians now living under the same roof along with Astral and Black Mist. Much like Vector down the line, the dark counterpart to Astral had seen the error of his way after a good beating and, so far, was doing decently (albeit all the sarcastic remarks and pranks with Vector). As for the mad prince himself (who, to no one's surprise, demanded to have the drums), he was doing decently with the help of Yuma and, oddly enough, the twins. The greenette had found out that Vector and Shark actually used to be friends before he went nuts so she guessed that they just went back to that, leaving past events behind themselves. She smiled to herself. Yuma's influence on everyone - friend and enemies-alike - caused them to change, for the better. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Kotori!" said girl looked as Rio showed up by the front door, as everyone else was outside already. "The Tenjo's and Arclight's arrived! I hope you know how to use that bass!" she winked, causing the younger girl to flush in light annoyance.

"I bet I can do better than you, Rio-san!"

"I really want to see that!" the bluenette teased as she ran off to take her spot, Kotori right behind her with her instrument in her arms. She didn't even get to close the front door, thus allowing a small breeze to stir up a picture that was lying on the coffee table.

The picture of all of them right after Yuma and Shark had won. And they were smiling.

 **Well... this is it guys. The last chapter of "Resonance of Souls". I hope you enjoyed the ride and that this ending isn't too cheesy but if it is, you can leave that in the reviews too. See you in my next Zexal fic, whatever it ends up being!**

 **Hint: it will most likely have to do with Iris and Rio, so stay tuned if you like those two! (and no, it wont be romance between the two before someone asks).**

 **Thank you for reading! :)**


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